DRC: 6 soldiers tried for the bloody repression of a demonstration

September 5, 2023

The trial of six Congolese soldiers, including two senior officers, arrested after the repression of a demonstration that killed around 50 people on August 30, began on Tuesday in Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The hearing began in the early afternoon before the military court of North Kivu, sitting in a room, full to bursting, of the Katindo military camp in Goma, the provincial capital, where the facts took place, noted an AFP journalist.

Suspended at the end of the day, it must resume Wednesday morning.

The defendants are two Republican Guard officers, Colonel Mike Mikombe and Lieutenant-Colonel Donatien Bawili, whose arrest was announced by the government on Monday, as well as four 2nd class soldiers. All are in custody and appeared in their military uniforms.

When asked whether he recognized the facts with which he was charged, Colonel Mikombe replied “no, I do not recognize them”. The floor has not yet been given to the other defendants.

Judged in “flagrance” (immediate appearance), they are prosecuted in particular for “crimes against humanity”, declared the senior auditor of North Kivu, Colonel Michel Kachil, representing the public ministry.

According to him, 56 people were killed and 75 injured last Wednesday during a military operation launched to prevent a demonstration planned by a local sect against the presence in the region of UN and East African forces. , accused of ineffectiveness in the fight against armed groups.

The operation had been carried out in particular in the temple and the premises of the radio of this sect. An internal army document quickly reported 48 dead and 75 wounded, before the government released a toll of 43 dead and 56 wounded.

Survivors interviewed last Friday claimed that the soldiers had opened fire “without explanation” or “justification” on dozens of unarmed people.

The two officers on trial “led four young soldiers” into their “macabre enterprise”, launched the senior auditor, assuring that “their actions were carried out on their initiative”.

“It was not a state action, they acted in isolation,” he said.

A ministerial delegation was sent from Kinshasa to Goma on Saturday to “shed light” on the events of August 30 and “release responsibilities”, in the words of the government.

In addition to the arrest of the two military officials announced from the night of Sunday to Monday in Goma by Interior Minister Peter Kazadi, the latter announced on Monday evening the recall to Kinshasa for “consultations” of the governor of North Kivu, General Constant Ndima, and the suspension of two police officers.

Around 60 victims have joined the trial as civil parties. Their lawyers have announced their intention to ask that the Congolese State be held civilly responsible.

From New York, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, said that the UN Mission in the DRC (Monusco) “strongly encourages a thorough and independent investigation” into this case and is monitoring the ongoing trial. .